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/vr/ - Retro Games

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File: 306 KB, 800x1130, 24055-castlevania-ii-simon-s-quest-nes-front-cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5777970 No.5777970 [Reply] [Original]

What was the general consensus on Simon's Quest before April 8th, 2006? Was it seen as a classic, a good but flawed game, or a straight up bad entry in the series?

>> No.5778006

>>5777970
What happened in 2006? Simon's Quest was one of my favorite NES games but I've rarely met people who felt the same. I remember a number of people playing when it was new but otherwuse it was mostly ignored ir forgotten in my experience.

>> No.5778008

It was just one of those sequels on NES like Zelda or Mario 2 (US) that diverged a bit further from what would come to be the status quo.

>> No.5778056

>>5777970
>April 8th, 2006?
Wtf was that? I've always like it at any rate

>> No.5778117

>>5778006
>>5778056
I think that's when AVGN first reviewed it
He used to talk about Simon's Quest a lot

>> No.5778142

>>5778117
Does he like or dislike it?

>> No.5778169

>>5778142
The episode was actually made in 2004, it just got online in 2006.
James Rolfe was actually parodying his perception of the gaming community of petty complainers, bitching about old games no one cared about anymore. But that same community embraced him.

>> No.5778172

>>5778142
he grew up with it and seems to have a love-hate relationship with it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4we8iFk-fY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoRS-ABqR3Q

>> No.5778180

You could move around and explore anywhere you wanted unlike the much more restrictive Castlevania I. Plus you can collect items like it's Zelda.

>> No.5778186

>>5778180
I love the Night theme. It really gets down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drfs6dUF1nk

>> No.5778215

The AVGN criticisms were more than fair.

>> No.5778227
File: 136 KB, 800x1050, vampire_killer.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5778227

It's not bad. Prefer it to SotN and the other IGA shit, but it's not as good as the best Tansakuvania, pic related.

>> No.5778289

>>5778169
That's not super surprising.

>>5778180
That's a lot of what I liked as well. Each time you played it was exploring more of the world and figuring out what to do. I always preferred games like that to ones like Mario or CV1 where you start at the beginning every time.

Day night cycle was awesome and it's a shame more games don't have one.

>> No.5778308
File: 5 KB, 256x240, cv2u-lcase-a1.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5778308

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1032/

This mod from 2016 by a Finnish hacker re-translates the game from the original Japanese script, updates the text speed to fit the more numerous english characters, includes an in-game map based on official artwork and an introduction screen explaining the story so you don't need the Japanese manual, allows you to save anywhere, makes the day to night transition completely seamless, and has a number of other improvements which can be optional if you download the rom on the hacker's website. It's also compatible with other hacks such as the one that doubles the amount of hearts you get and the one that removes invisible floor tiles.

https://bisqwit.iki.fi/cv2fin/#use

(Click switch page language)

It's worth mentioning that the Angry Video Game Nerd, while obviously insofar of his rage and emotional investment in a single old video game was making a satirical review, at the same time he was also accurately reflecting the frustration that people felt at the time the game first came out in North America due to its shoddy translation, rather hurting the game's quality considering how important NPC clues were to progression. Even in the ideal state we have it in now thanks to romhacking many of the flaws he criticized still apply though.

>> No.5778314

>>5777970
GameFaqs shows what date reviews are posted to their site so you can see plenty of opinions prior to 2006
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/587179-castlevania-ii-simons-quest/reviews

And here's one from a site that stopped updating shortly into the life of the Gamecube. The person who wrote it loves the game the most out of all CV at the time, but admits he's in a then-current minority.
http://www.world-of-nintendo.com/reviews/nes/castlevania_2_bill.shtml

Notable excerpts:
>Some (it seems most, actually) prefer the setup of the other two Castlevania more than this one because Simon's Quest is set up more like Metroid and has many RPG elements while the other two are more like straight-forward action games.

>This is a wickedly hard game. The enemies aren't so bad to deal with, but trying to find the mansions (and in order) is an almost impossible task without a walkthrough.

>This is the best CV game for the NES in my opinion. The new RPG elements and non-linear, Metroid-like gameplay makes this game a must for any NES fan's library. However, be warned that some Castlevania fans actually don't like this one.

>> No.5778627

>>5778314
>Metroid-like
hmmmmmmmm???

>> No.5779281

>>5778142
IRL he likes it in spite of its flaws, but some people forget that AVGN is a character, an exaggerated caricature (partially based on his own flawed perception from when he was a child), written by him and his pal, and not a real person.
A lot of the games he trashes in character are games which he actually kinda likes, like Fester's Quest, Friday The 13th, etc.

>>5778180
Yeah, it's not an atrocious game, there's a lot of good ideas there, the execution is rough around the edges is all. It was the first sequel in the series and they tried something different, just like Zelda did with its first sequel, and Super Mario Bros., and some people didn't like when these series did that.

>> No.5779286

>>5777970
No one had ever even heard of it before then.

>> No.5779402

>>5779286
>nobody ever heard of castlevania 2 before that
Do zoomers actually believe this shit or do they purposely write nonsense to ruin the board for the incredible 10/10 lulz

>> No.5779414

>>5779402
Do you just look at the most glaring fucking bait/irony imaginable and just take it at complete face value without stopping for a second to examine it?
If I made a post that said "The sky is green", would you then try to argue with me about how I'm and idiot because the sky is obviously blue?

>> No.5779420

>>5778215
They're not WRONG, the point is just supposed to be that his character is this autistic sperg who's way too nitpicky and angry about some dumb old NES game nobody could seriously care this much about. He kinda underestimated the autism that's out there.

>> No.5779432

>>5778314
I have a local video game magazine from 1995 that did these monthly features about old NES games that were still worth a look. In one issue they focused on adventure games, and recommended Castlevania 2 (89/100), Faxanadu (84/100), Goonies 2 (87/100) and Metroid (94/100), while putting Ironsword as their "bad game you shouldn't waste money on" pick (44/100). The reviewer also mentioned Castlevania 2 was his favorite of the 3 NES games.

>> No.5779438

>>5779402
Chill out, dude. It was just a silly tongue in cheek kind of post. Not everything has to be "bait." Sometimes it's just kidding around, you know?

>> No.5779474

>>5779438
There's a lot of shitposting on the board and people just out trash discussion as soon as a thread comes up. "Chill out dude it's just trolling lol" isn't going to cut it, people are sick of this place becoming slow/v/.

>> No.5779532

>>5779474
>"Chill out dude it's just trolling lol" isn't going to cut it
It's not even trolling, though... Fucking hell this board has such a stick up its ass these days.

>> No.5779578

>>5777970
AVGN memes aside it's always surprising to hear that people don't like it considering that this is what the series evolved into from SOTN onward.

>> No.5779642

>>5779578
I assume because it didn't do it quite well enough.
I see what they were doing a lot of the time, there's a lot of good ideas in there, but it's just not executed that greatly.

>> No.5779651

It finally became playable when you could look up the clues on the internet. Everyone put that game in their shoe boxes in 1990, but got it out a few times once America Online came out. Sure, everyone was disappointing in the Dracula fight, but they just chocked it up to the passage of time. James criticized it like Roger Ebert chewing up every little detail he could. That's how everyone reviews now. Sucks.

>> No.5779657

>>5779651
Nintendo Power existed you fucking reprobate.

>> No.5779695

>>5777970
Imagine you were 8 and your mom bought Castlevania II for you for Christmas. Pretty sure just wandering around doing shit would've entertained you for a couple months whether you beat the game or not. Therefore, yes, it was a good game.

inb4 b-but I'm 40 years old now and it's shit by my jaded YouTube e-celeb influenced perspective

>> No.5779731

It's not a bad game, it's just the shitty translation and cryptic NPC dialogue (made worse by the translation) that's bad.

>> No.5779736

>>5778308
This is a good hack, cheers for this.

>> No.5779740

>>5779695
What are you, British?

>> No.5779741

>>5778627
Exploring a large open world where obtaining items allows you to find new paths to explore.

>> No.5779745

>>5779741
so like a metroidvania?

>> No.5779756

>>5779745
Kind of like the ancient ancestor to them.

>> No.5779770

>>5779756
wow cool

>> No.5780114

>>5777970
Inferior to the games before and after it. Generally considered the "black sheep" of the series.

Stop obsessing over youtube celebrities, kid.

>> No.5780615

>>5777970
It was unironically my favorite Castlevania as a child. I couldn't beat I or III when I got to levels with those bullshit respawning medusa heads or bats, but II combined RPG elements and was a much more fun experience.

Once IV and Dracula X came out, I liked those better than II.

>> No.5780632

The whip makes a 2

>> No.5780879

>>5777970
First castlevania I played and beat so it'll always have a special place in my heart. not sure I could beat it now without a few key spots and being reminded what to do ( where do kneel what do I equip to get this item to show) but for the most I could play thru most of it still. I mean I managed to somehow get thru OG zelda without a guide (still no clue how to this day since looking back alot was hard to just figure out so I might have used nintendo power tip and dont remember)


great game but flawed. as for how it was remembered it was always considered the black sheep like someone else mentioned but was a solid title in the series.

>> No.5780897

Castlevania 2 has the BEST soundtrack.

>> No.5781495

>>5780897
This. There's things people can complain about, but the music is solid.